When playing a typical game of golf, a player must transport both himself or herself and his or her golf clubs around a golf course. Traditionally, players either (i) walked the course carrying or pulling a golf bag that contained their clubs, or (ii) rode in a golf carts which also provided a space for their golf bags. Walking provides a player with a significant workout as he/she may traverse 4-5 miles over a typical 18 hole course; however, the pace of the game is reduced substantially and may hold up faster players, such as those using carts. Carts on the other hand open the game to those players that either do not want to or do not have the physical stamina to walk a golf course.
Others over the years have suggested using human powered bicycles and tricycles to transport the golfer and his golf clubs around the course. Typically, these have included provisions such as brackets, mounting apparatus and modified frames that permit a traditional generally cylindrical golf bag to be carried on the vehicle. While such vehicles do allow a rider to traverse the course, the addition of a golf bag to a bicycle for instance introduces significant stability problems that make them unsuitable and potentially dangerous for use by the occasional bicycle rider. One such bicycle and bracket combination is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,836.
To improve the balance and stability of a golf club-carrying bicycle, a carrier that distributes the weight of the clubs on either side of a rear wheel was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,326. Further, individual tubes are provided to house each club thereby preventing them from moving around as the bicycle is being ridden. This configuration, however, has several serious drawbacks. For instance, overall weight of the bicycle with the clubs and a rider is biased towards the rear wheel thereby creating a potential over steer condition, such as when descending a hill.
Another potentially more significant impediment to the use of bicycles on golf courses is the potential damage they can cause to golf course grounds. For one, a traditional bicycle or even a standard mountain bike with traditional “fat tires” leave unsightly tracks on the fairways that detract from the manicured image that the grounds keepers of many if not most golf courses. Further, when a course is rain logged and soft, the tread of a bike tire along with the higher than typical ground load can dig into the terrain and cause serious turf damage. Considering the foregoing, golf course managers are unlikely to allow bicycles on their courses severely reducing if not eliminating the economic viability of prior art bicycles designed to carry golf clubs.